i notice in the combat modifier table that fighting a flying opponent causes a -5 to your total
that's pretty steep
my party were seriously threatened by harpies in our last session and they are intended to be scavengers in the adventure and not a credible threat
what gives with this?
also means enemies like Life Stealers are going to be almost unkillable with their Skill of 12!
combat modifier for flight
Re: combat modifier for flight
In the same way as the -2 for "Drunk" is on whoever's drunk, the -5 for "Airborne" is going to be on whoever's airborne, otherwise it'd be something like "Vs airborne opponent". But this one has the note "Applied to both mounted attacker and unmounted foe", so I'd take it as being for if the PCs get flying mounts and try and fight from them. I don't think you'd apply it to creatures that are natural fliers.
Re: combat modifier for flight
The footnote for the "Airborne" combat modifier says:
"Applied to both mounted attacker and unmounted foe"
Taken literally, this penalty ONLY applies when attacking from a flying mount - BUT in that case it also applies to any unmounted foe (flying or not). Since combat is an opposed test, it would basically cancel to nothing in most cases.
Literally interpreted the -5 penalty SOLELY applies to attacking a non-flying mounted opponent from flying mount (if both mounts were flying, both parties would again get the -5 and it would cancel).
That wording always seemed a bit bizarre to me, so the way I have interpreted it for my campaign is to grant +5 melee for flying, provided it's outdoors or in a large space, and then -5 for attacking from a flying mount.
So an attacker on a flying mount gets no benefit to melee outdoors, -5 to melee in confined spaces and -5 to missile attacks.
An attacker who flies "natively" gets +5AS melee with enough room to manuver.
"Applied to both mounted attacker and unmounted foe"
Taken literally, this penalty ONLY applies when attacking from a flying mount - BUT in that case it also applies to any unmounted foe (flying or not). Since combat is an opposed test, it would basically cancel to nothing in most cases.
Literally interpreted the -5 penalty SOLELY applies to attacking a non-flying mounted opponent from flying mount (if both mounts were flying, both parties would again get the -5 and it would cancel).
That wording always seemed a bit bizarre to me, so the way I have interpreted it for my campaign is to grant +5 melee for flying, provided it's outdoors or in a large space, and then -5 for attacking from a flying mount.
So an attacker on a flying mount gets no benefit to melee outdoors, -5 to melee in confined spaces and -5 to missile attacks.
An attacker who flies "natively" gets +5AS melee with enough room to manuver.
Re: combat modifier for flight
The "and unmounted foe" part is cryptic for sure. I just ignore it and apply the penalty to anyone trying to fight from a flying mount. My guess is it's just supposed to represent how difficult that would be, with the unsteadiness of beating wings and trying to make sure you don't fall.JoeDuncan wrote: ↑Mon Feb 08, 2021 11:19 pmThe footnote for the "Airborne" combat modifier says:
"Applied to both mounted attacker and unmounted foe"
Taken literally, this penalty ONLY applies when attacking from a flying mount - BUT in that case it also applies to any unmounted foe (flying or not). Since combat is an opposed test, it would basically cancel to nothing in most cases.
Wouldn't a creature that can fly naturally have any combat benefit that gives them already included in their SKILL? The stats come from the FF gamebooks where I'd expect they were flying when they were fought.